Matt Rife collaboration with E.l.f. Cosmetics sparks backlash: explained

The new ad campaign of a popular cosmetic company has got people mad as it stars stand-up comedian Matt Rife and Heidi N. Closet as fictional personal injury lawyers “E.l.f.ino & Schmarnes.”

E.l.f. Beauty expected that the comedic duo would hilariously entice consumers, rather than push them away with a tag of controversy.

On Aug. 11, when the advertisement was aired, starring Rife leading in a legal-style campaign, the cosmetic company's price surged 12.4% intraday with about $290 million in trading volume, according to an article published on AInvest.

However, the share fell by 2.7% as the backlash grew a few days later, by Aug. 14–15, with trading volume significantly dropping by ~22%.

Why E.l.f. Cosmetics is facing backlash over Matt Rife

When the ad came out, customers took over social media, criticising Rife’s appearance in the advertisement. Rife, the Netflix headliner comedian, has been under fire for making jokes related to domestic violence victims in his 2023 Netflix special, Natural Selection.

“I know a thing or two about red flags,” Rife declares in the new ad, before adding that customers deserve better than overpriced makeup.

The beauty brand’s ad focused on cost-saving beauty products. However, a user commented on Instagram whether the brand lacked the budget for a comedian who doesn’t joke about abuse.

The comment gained over 20k likes, fuelling other commenters to urge the brand to remove the video, while some also questioned the brand’s connection with Rife’s previous remarks about domestic violence.

The California-based beauty brand posted an acknowledgement of the controversy on its Instagram and TikTok accounts, but refrained from directly apologising or removing the video.

“You know us. We’re always listening and we’ve heard you,” the brand wrote. “This campaign aimed to humorously spotlight beauty injustice. We understand we missed the mark with people we care about in our e.l.f. community. While E.l.f.ino & Schmarnes closes today, we’ll continue to make the case against overpriced beauty.”

The statement from the cosmetic line did little to lessen the outrage of people who later criticised the brand’s response and its failure to address Rife’s casting concerns on social media.

“This is a non-apology. Literally. It’s all intentional outrage marketing. I’m sick of it,” one user wrote on Reddit.

In all this, the Gen Z-favourite cosmetic brand turned the backlash into attention and engagement from potential consumers, a practice known as “outrage marketing.”

Recently, Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad and Gavin Casalegno’s Dunkin’ Donuts ad both stimulated similarly negative reactions.

E.l.f., however, has been smartly involving itself in outrage marketing, taking the controversy as an opportunity to gain more publicity.

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